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Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli hailed Cristiano Ronaldo after he impressed in his debut outing in Saudi Arabia since signing for Al Nassr. The Portuguese ace featured for the Saudi All Star XI in a friendly fixture against Lionel Messi's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Thursday, January 19, scoring two goals before being subbed at half-time.
Although Saudi All Star XI lost the game by a 4-5 margin, Ronaldo looked in sublime form during his time on the pitch. He made some decent runs into the penalty box, came down to support the defenders, and showed glimpses of his glorious past.
Ronaldo made his first appearance since Portugal's unceremonious exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022, losing in the quarter-finals at the hands of Morocco. Many hailed his performance against the Ligue 1 giants, including star Indian batter Kohli.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) cricketer reckons that Ronaldo has once again shut down his critics with an impressive performance. Taking to his Instagram story, Kohli shared an image of the Portuguese superstar and wrote:
"Still doing it at the highest level at 38. The football experts sitting and criticizing him every week for attention and to be in news are conveniently quiet now that he has put in this kind of performance against one of the top clubs in Europe. And he was apparently finished."
Meanwhile, this isn't the first time Kohli has hailed the former Real Madrid star. He hailed Ronaldo as the "greatest of all time" after the latter's exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022, probably his last major international tournament.
Ronaldo faced a lot of criticism after failing to impress in Qatar, managing only one goal. Portugal coach Fernando Santos also benched him in two consecutive knock-out games after substituting him in the group-stage game against South Korea.
Virat Kohli to be next seen in action during 2nd ODI vs New Zealand
After a sub-par outing in the first ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday, January 18, Virat Kohli will look to hit the strides in the second fixture. Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur will host the game on Saturday, January 21.
Kohli scored eight runs off 10 deliveries before being cleaned up by New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner. However, the Men in Blue secured a narrow win by 12 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
However, Kohli has been in scintillating form heading into the series, scoring three centuries in his last four ODI innings. The ace batter smacked an unbeaten 166 in the final ODI against Sri Lanka to register his 46th hundred in the 50-over format. He is now three tons behind Sachin Tendulkar's record for 49 ODI centuries.
